The Pleasures of Reading, Listening, in Viewing in 2021, pt. 13: Tansy Rayner Roberts

 

2021 Pleasures
by Tansy Rayner Roberts

 

This year it’s been all about gaslamp fantasy for me — a rapidly-becoming-a-thing subgenre that uses Regency and Victorian historical settings (and other worlds inspired by those time periods).

Some of these stories are dark and complex (think Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell) while others are cozy, romantic and fun (think Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series).

This year I discovered Tilly Wallace, whose utterly wonderful Manners and Monsters series just finished up with a final Christmas epilogue to her series of historical, romantic cozy mysteries set around a Regency zombie plague (only affecting aristocratic ladies) and a bunch of other urban fantasy tropes made fresh and new by adding bonnets. From vampires to hellhounds, I found the whole run of stories delightful.

I also fell in love with the Stariel series by New Zealand author AJ Lancaster, about a sprawling family manor house that chooses its own heir when the Lord dies… and the Jewel Diviner series by Australian author Rosalie Oaks, about a young lady and her tiny vampire companion… and the Werewolf of Whitechapel by Susannah Rowntree, about a Victorian lady’s maid in a world where only royalty are monsters (and one is almost certainly the Ripper).

Beyond books, I also found some gaslamp fantasy joy in The Nevers, a smart and intriguing action-adventure series about (mostly) women with unusual magical powers, fighting to protect each other in an alt-universe version of Victorian London.

Finally, a surprising new addition to an old favorite of mine, the splendid Jago and Litefoot audio series of supernatural Victorian mysteries from Big Finish Productions. These two unlikely best friends: polite, fussy pathologist Professor George Litefoot (Trevor Baxter) and brash, wordy theatre impresario Henry Gordon Litefoot (Christopher Benjamin), solved mysterious, magical, and alien crimes on the back streets of London.

Their adventures began on TV in a couple of episodes of a 1970s episode of Doctor Who, and continued on audio as full cast plays for 14 seasons between 2010 and 2017, until the sad death of Trevor Baxter. Jago and Litefoot were a cornerstone of Big Finish Productions, existing well beyond their Doctor Who origins (though they did have the occasional fun outing with the Sixth Doctor). The combination of heart, gumption, Victorian gothic tropes, sinister villains, jolly friends and the charisma of two elderly lead actors made pure magic.

Unfortunately, a planned season of adventures was cut short by Baxter’s death, and in 2018 they created a respectful coda to draw a line under the Jago and Litefoot series. However, those scripts were clearly burning a hole in someone’s pocket, so this year they produced them as a series of single-voice audiobooks.

It’s not the same. It can’t be the same, without Baxter there to voice Professor Litefoot. But it was still very nice to see this chapter of their lives fleshed out a little, and particularly to hear some of the series’ other actors back one last time.

And of course, I do have fourteen seasons of rippers, vampires, werewolves, aliens in crinolines, ghosts, music hall numbers, and other gaslit adventures to re-listen to, any time I like.

 

Tansy Rayner Roberts writes a series of cozy gaslamp fantasy novellas, including Tea & Sympathetic Magic, The Frost Fair Affair, and Spellcracker’s Honeymoon. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram at @tansyrr.